Thursday, 28.03.2024 | Deutsch | English
Truck Grand Prix Preliminary Report

Truck Grand Prix Preliminary Report

28. June 2017Nürburgring - The Truck Grand Prix, the climactic event of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, comes round again this weekend. The TGP traditionally occupied the mid-July slot on the ETRC calendar, but a few years ago was shifted to the beginning of July when the dates clashed with those Formula 1 claimed was its by right for the German Grand Prix.
The activity this year will kick off early, with the press and VIP rides Thursday. These are a trademark of the TGP, as much as the myriad of other activities around the actual racing.
Racing, of course, is still at the centre of everything – and there’ll be no shortage of that. The truckers themselves will have eight heats over three days. More than 40 trucks are registered, both for the FIA races and those of the Mittelrhein Cup. For the latter the interest has been much greater this year than the number of trucks the organisers could accommodate.
The entry list for the FIA races is 21-strong – 12 full-season campaigners and nine race-by-race pilots. The FIA contingent can hardly wait to get back into action, but they’ll be more than compensated for their five weeks of forced abstinence in the second half of the season, when five events are lined up within the space of six weeks.
The favourites here are naturally local hero and defending champion Jochen Hahn and his inveterate Czech rival Adam Lacko, runner-up in the championship for the last two seasons. Never mind that the German Iveco pilot, after a brilliant start to his season in Spielberg in his all-new race truck, was laid low with teething troubles at Misano World Circuit on Italy’s Adriatic coast. These gremlins have all since been dealt with. Nevertheless Lacko, whose Buggyra Fatfox is at the peak of its development, will assume the mantle of absolute favourite at the TGP by virtue of his leading the overall standings.
Steffi Halm is the undisputed truck race princess for many fans, and no matter where she shows up the racy German MAN pilotess is everybody’s darling. This exceptional racer has punched well above her weight in the two ETRC rounds so far, and is presently ensconced between the two top favourites in the standings.
And even if youth is in the ascendant, it pays to remember that truck racing is an age-less sport. This is evident both from 16-year-old Téo Calvet’s first win in a race of the French championship at Nogaro on Sunday, and French truck racing legend Noël Crozier’s winning form not too long ago, when he was long past retirement age.
The two veterans in this year’s FIA field, Spanish MAN pilot Antonio Albacete and Iveco regular Gerd Körber, will do everything they can to keep the young guns at the top mindful of this fact. Both “oldies” bring the experience of three titles each to bear. At the Nürburgring, however, Körber will have to overcome a rare “handicap” – Mr Truckracing is celebrating his 30th year in the sport, and one can imagine all the receptions and ceremonies in his honour will only distract from the racing.
Many years younger, but no less experienced in the art of winning, what with two consecutive European championships under his belt, Hungarian Norbert Kiss in the tankpool24 Mercedes heads up the rest of the pack. Sascha Lenz, born the year Gerd Körber started out in truck racing, is only one point behind his illustrious compatriot in the standings. He too has excellent prospects of podium-place finishes at the TGP, considering that the Nürburgring has been his second home of sorts since childhood – the rapidly rising MAN pilot lives only a few kilometres away.
But it’s not only these seven who fancy a claim to the winners’ podium; how quickly anyone can reach there was emphatically demonstrated in Spielberg by the man who’s presently eighth in the standings – Portuguese patrão José Rodrigues capitalised on a front-row starting position in his MAN to take a well-deserved first win in the ETRC after many years of waiting.
The Mittelrhein Cup also holds out the prospect of some high-wire racing as the Brits dice for points in this extended round of the British Truck Racing Championship. Some of them took the opportunity last weekend to warm up in Nogaro.
Warm also nicely describes the expected temperatures, although the forecasts aren’t all in agreement. Let’s just say we probably aren’t going to see the best summer weather this weekend.
The TGP is about truck racing, yes, but much more than that – it’s an all-inclusive experience for the entire family, with motorsport up close like at no other event, with the industry show and lots and lots of music. In addition to the traditional acts by country legends there are usually big names from the pop and rock scene as well. On Friday evening is an event fans of Kölsch rock don’t want to miss – Brings, the band that’s a leading exponent of this genre based on lyrics in the Colognian dialect, will be stirring things up at the Müllenbachschleife.

Impressions:

Truck Grand Prix Preliminary Report
Truck Grand Prix Preliminary Report
Truck Grand Prix Preliminary Report